Brexit: Second tranche of 'no deal' guidance published by UKG

The UK Government has published the second set of 28 guidance notes on the impact of a "no deal" Brexit across a range of sectors. There are a number which are of interest to business, including:

1. Public procurement. A domestic replacement for advertising in the Official Journal of the European Union ("OJEU") would be set up by the UK.

2. Access to EU grants, including ERDF. These grants would be unavailable to UK lead entities after 29 March 2019 in a "no deal" scenario. The Government has offered a guarantee to back fund projects under the 2014-2020 funding period.

3. Businesses exporting products to the EU under the "mutual recognition" principle. In the event of "'no deal", this principle would cease to apply to the UK and, so, to UK "non-harmonised" manufactured goods. The guidance states simply that "UK businesses exporting non-harmonised goods to the EU market will need to meet the national requirements of the first EU country they export to".

With 4 weeks before the European Council meeting scheduled on 18 October, even with an extension into November time is short to agree the key outstanding issues which are effectively blocking the negotiations on any future EU/UK trade arrangements. There is less time still for business to react to the guidance notes, and to put in place what would be very significant restructuring and approval processes. It is interesting to note that there is still no technical note in relation to aviation arrangements (including access to the EU Open Skies agreement) in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Clyde & Co is hosting Brexit: Supply Chain resilience in London on 10 October 2018, with a range of clients and keynote speakers including Rt Hon Jack Straw. For more information and to register to attend, please click here.